Events for LGBTQ+

🪧 About the Event: On 23 October 1966—exactly sixty years ago—Spence Mendenhall was found shot to death in his Salt Lake City home in the Avenues. His murder remains unsolved. Spence was a Gay man who was secretly out to some people but largely lived a closeted life, and his death has since been recognized as a hate crime. Julian Hendrix will be reading excerpts from a work in progress exploring queer communities and relationships through the connections and disjunctions shared between his great-uncle and himself. Between his unsolved murder in 1966 and the present day, a political project based in LGBT visibility - Harvey Milk's "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" - has transformed queer experiences, both our relationships with each other and with our broader communities. Julian’s project focuses on the different ways LGBT people are known or not known among our queer community and our families as well as the ways in which visibility has and has not transformed the kinds of violence we face. 🎙️ About the Speaker: Julian Hendrix is a writer and historian based in Chicago. Spence Mendenhall is his great-uncle. 
Remote Attendance Zoom link: https://utah.zoom.us/j/82528976167 Meeting ID: 825 2897 6167 Passcode: 185309 
Special thanks to Signature Books for allowing us to host this event in their space! 
Past lectures can be accessed on our YouTube channel or on the Berryman Lecture Series page.

Join two-time Hugo Award-winning Becky Chambers for a powerful discussion on thriving in scary times through radical hope, community, and imagined futures. Legendarium and Under the Umbrella celebrate the release of her new book, As You Wake, Break the Shell - a queer, hopepunk novel about surviving through found family and tenacious hope amidst environmental collapse.

Becky Chambers is one of the most prominent and impactful science fiction authors of our time. This is her first visit to Salt Lake and first novel in four years. The event is hosted in collaboration with the Queer Student Union of Utah and the University of Utah Gender Studies Program. 
Legendarium and Under the Umbrella are sponsoring heavily discounted admission for as many students, at the University of Utah and elsewhere, as possible. 

Details and tickets here.

Join radical hopepunk author, Becky Chambers, for a powerful lecture on thriving in daunting, fascist times through the audacity of joy, community, and imagined futures.

Four of Utah's incredible queer organizations have teamed up to celebrate the release of her new book, AS YOU WAKE, BREAK THE SHELL - a sci-fi novel about surviving through found family and tenacious hope amidst environmental collapse. Two-time Hugo Award-winning author, Becky Chambers is one of the most prominent and impactful science fiction authors of our time.

The event is hosted in collaboration with The Legendarium, Under the Umbrella, the Queer Student Union of Utah, and the University of Utah Gender Studies Program. Legendarium and Under the Umbrella are sponsoring $5 admission for students, with any school ID (code: hopepunk).

Thursday, October 15 starting at 7:00 PM

Kingsbury Hall (University of Utah)

Purchase tickets through this link, or through Kingsbury Hall Box Office

Join the Mildred Berryman Institute for our Fifth Queer Ancestor Memorial, as we gather to honor Spence Mendenhall (1911–1966). Spence was murdered likely because of his sexuality and his case remains unsolved. Since 2022, local LGBTIQ+ historians have gathered in a local cemetery to honor an LGBTIQ+ Utahn of the past. We honor and remember them with spoken word, music, thought, flowers, and—of course-rainbows. This year’s memorial will be held at Spence’s gravesite and will include music, singing, poetry, a short lecture, and a community ceremony of remembrance. Together, we will lay flowers and offerings on his grave, honoring his life and legacy while celebrating the lives and stories that continue to shape our community. This memorial is a moment to reflect, to connect, and to pay tribute to those who came before us. We invite you to stand with us in gratitude and remembrance.

Important: Look for white tent and people gathering near 330 North (N Olive Street) and 1020 East in the Salt Lake City Cemetery. What To Expect At This Event: An historical overview of the life and legacy of Spence Mendenhall An historical overview of crime & policing in the Queer community in the 1960s Music, poetry, and quiet reflection Decorating Mendenhall’s gravesite with flowers and rainbow items.

If you are unable to purchase flowers or offerings, we will have some provided. If you are unable to purchase flowers or offerings, we will have some provided.

Darlene McDonald is a published novelist and essayist. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Selma Institute, a nonprofit she started to provide a way for descendants of slaves to honor ancestors who were enslaved. Darlene will talk about the history of voting in the United States, starting with formation of the electoral college, the election of George Washington, and the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Darlene will demonstrate that throughout American history, there's been more effort to suppress voting rights of American citizens rather than encourage an informed electorate to become civically engaged.

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An interview with the author, Stephen Carter! Join the Mildred Berryman Institute and Signature Books for a conversation with author Stephen Carter about his new book, Creature, a biography of queer Utah poet May Swenson—available to order here or to purchase at the event. Mildred Berryman Institute co-founder and board member Megan Weiss will interview Carter about Swenson’s life, work, sexuality, and complicated relationship with her Utah roots. One of the most celebrated American poets of the twentieth century, May Swenson was born in Logan, Utah, in 1919 and went on to build a distinguished literary career in New York. Her poetry explored desire, identity, the body, nature, and the complexities of human relationships, while her personal life included relationships with women that have become an increasingly important part of how her work is understood. Drawing on Creature, Carter and Weiss will explore Swenson’s life and legacy, her connection to Utah, and the place of queer experience in her poetry and biography. The conversation will offer an opportunity to consider a remarkable Utah-born writer whose life and work have much to tell us about the history of Queer life, creativity, and identity in the state. About Creature and May Swenson: Creature, by Stephen Carter, examines the life and work of May Swenson, the acclaimed twentieth-century American poet born in Logan, Utah, in 1919. Swenson became known for her inventive and sensuous poetry and spent much of her adult life in New York, where she developed relationships with women and participated in literary circles that shaped her career. Her work frequently explored desire, the body, gender, and the natural world, making her an important figure in the history of American poetry and a compelling subject for the study of Utah’s Queer history. 
💻 Remote Attendance Zoom link: https://utah.zoom.us/j/86729375988 Meeting ID: 867 2937 5988 Passcode: 657892